Joining the Circus
by strangeANDgreat
Summary: Complete AU - Aaron runs away and joins the circus. Will he find love under the big top? This is my first attempt at writting here, so if you must LIE to me, but please let me know what you think.
1. Ready to Run

Chapter 1: Ready to Run

Growing up, all Aaron ever wanted to do was get away. Get away from the fear he faced every day. From the time he was old enough to piss his father off, he was always running.

He would run to the fields in the early hours of the morning to get away from the horrors that waited for him if he didn't get the chores done in time. If he didn't get everything done before breakfast, he was in for a beating. And depending on his father's mood, the punishment was anyone's guess.

He would run to school so that his father couldn't blame him for some obscure chore that he didn't do right. Something so asinine as putting the toilet paper roll on the wrong way.

Aaron was always running. He was always running away from the small little hell he was born into.

When Aaron was 12, his mother, after years of what felt like shoveling shit in Hades, finally had had enough. She would later tell Aaron that leaving him with that sorry excuse for a father was the hardest thing she had ever done. She just didn't know how to start over with a 12 year old. Aaron didn't blame her. He hated her, that's for sure. But he never blamed her. He always thought that if the rolls had been reversed, he probably would have done the same thing. That was a thought that he pushed to the back of his mind. He never wanted to think that he would ever leave his child so the easiest thing was to shove it into the box labeled "You Will Never Turn Out Like Your Parents".

The following 3 years proved to be the worst so far. His father had become more of an alcoholic then he already was, and Aaron never knew what was waiting for him when he came home. All he knew was that he would probably be rewarded with a pillowcase full of bars of soap because the only bruises they left were internal.

As the numbers on the clock changed to 12:00am, it was now November 2. Aaron's birthday. His 15th birthday. Aaron knew what his father would get him for his birthday and he knew that this year, he really didn't want that particular gift.

He had had his bag packed and hidden for a few weeks now. He was just waiting for the perfect moment to run for the last time. He checked his watch as it beeped in the silence. It was 12:30am and he was running to catch up to the boxcar that was pulling out of the train yard. He threw his bag into the empty car and jumped in just before the train picked up speed.

He looked around at his new temporary home. He couldn't believe he was finally free of that asshole. It was pretty much the single most exhilarating moment of his life. He sat in the corner of the car in the dark of the early morning and breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in 15 years. The only thing he regretted about leaving the way he did was that he wouldn't be there to see the look on his good-for-nothing-losebag-of-a-father's face when he woke up to find that he wasn't there.

As Aaron thought over that for a while, he closed his eyes and slipped into the first peaceful sleep he'd had… ever!

When Aaron woke up later that morning he was a little disoriented. He didn't know where he was and he knew that it was WAY past the time he should be up. He sat bolt upright, fear instantly streaming through his blood, beads of sweat starting to glisten on his forehead.

It took him a moment to recall the events of last night. And when it hit him where he was, the fear he initially felt upon waking up was replaced with relief. He was finally free to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. The first thing he wanted to do though was go back to sleep. In his hurry to get out from under his fathers iron fist, he forgot to grab his pillow and a sleeping bag. He had never had a kink in his neck like he did now, but that didn't mean he wasn't exhausted. With the adrenaline from last night long gone, and the stiffness that was creeping in all over his body, Aaron realized that he was indeed in need of a few more hours of sleep. Albeit extremely uncomfortable sleep, but it was sleep that he needed.

With a few more hours of sleep in his system, Aaron decided it was time to try and figure out where he was headed.

He was standing at the open door of the boxcar taking in the scenery passing him by. He had never been out of his small town nowhere USA and he couldn't get over how beautiful everything was. He couldn't believe that all this was out there and he had never been allowed to be a part of it. He suddenly became very angry with his father for keeping him from experiencing all of this.

Not realizing how much pent up anger he had inside of him, he punched the wall of the boxcar. He punched it a lot harder than he had ever intended and he was instantly regretting that decision. He knew his hand wasn't broken because he could still move his fingers and rotate his wrist, but it still hurt like a bitch.

As the hours ticked by, Aaron was alone with his thoughts for the first time in a long time. Normally the thoughts that he had revolved around coming up with creative ways to escape a beating. But now that he was alone in a boxcar, he was bombarded with thoughts of insecurities, fear, excitement, and an unbelievable pleasant anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach.

As Aaron's stomach was doing giddy little summersaults, a childlike smile crept across his lips. This small, smelly boxcar was his new favorite place in the world. It was so far from what he knew but at this moment, with the sun, the wheat swaying in the breeze, the absolutely beautiful day outside made this shabby little car look just like heaven.

Aaron held onto the ladder and leaned out as far as he could, for no other reason than because he could. He noticed up in the distance a town coming into view. _I should probably find something to eat. I'm starving_, Aaron thought. It had been almost 9 hours since he last ate and it was really starting to hit him that there were some kinks to his well thought out plan of escape that maybe weren't so well thought out.

As the train slowed down and pulled into the train yard, Aaron grabbed his oversized backpack and jumped out of the boxcar.

Walking down the streets of the town felt so strange. Normally Aaron was running down the alley's to avoid nosy neighbors wonder what he was dong. For the first time, Aaron just walked. He never walked. It was something that he never realized could be so fulfilling. He would never take these little things for granted.

With all the new thoughts going through his head, Aaron realized that he needed to get a life. He kind of felt like a loser having all these girlie, poetic thoughts. Enough with feeling sorry for himself. He was starting a new life and that meant that he needed to get one. He just didn't know what he could do. In the meantime, he needed to find something to eat.

As he walked past a restaurant, he looked at the menu and knew that he was going to have to steep to a new level. If he wanted to make what little money he had last, he was going to have to do something that made his skin crawl. Dumpster diving was not something he ever thought he would ever find himself in a position to have to resort to, but here he was. Actually contemplating it.

Aaron was a rational teenager. This new way of living was going to have to be justified. How on earth can you justify eating food that was thrown in the garbage? The only thing that he could think of that would make this make sense to him was that he was living the life of a hobo, so he might as well eat like one. What is it they say? When in Rome! Well, he certainly wasn't in Rome, but he had to do this if he wanted to survive out here.

He figured that if he was going to do this, he might as well eat something half decent. He found a Red Lobster and went round back. He rummaged through the dumpster and found that this place had some pretty good food. Granted it came from the garbage, and other people had eaten off of it, but it was a pretty good meal. He had lobster, shrimp (God he hopped he wouldn't go into anaphylactic shock), chicken, steak and these little biscuit things. This was better than anything he had ever eaten while back with his dad.

He didn't look like he had slept in a train and no one would have guessed he had just feasted on food that was only good for dogs. So taking a tentative step inside the restaurant, he asked the hostess if he could just have a plastic bag. Even if Aaron Hotchner looked like a vagrant, he had a way of getting what he wanted. Especially from women. He wasn't beyond using his dimples to get ahead in life. In this case, he just wanted to go and bag up some of the feast he left behind in the dumpster.

As he made his way back to his boxcar, dinner in hand, he tossed his bags back into his new 'home'. He felt the now familiar movements of the wheels coming alive. Last night he never got a chance to see what life was like after dark. Tonight he wasn't going to miss it.

He couldn't believe how clear the sky was. He had never in his wildest dreams imagined a sky like this. Aaron knew about constellations from the astronomy portion of his science class, so he spent the next several hours finding and naming constellations, and making a few up as he went along.

When his watched beeped he looked down and saw that it was 12:00am, November 3rd. Aaron sat back against the frame of the door and let the cool night air envelop him. As he let out a contented sigh he thought, _Happy Birthday to me! Happy. Birthday. To. Me._


	2. Under the Big Top

_**A/N: Please note, I personally have never enjoyed the smell of rotting fish carcasses! For some reason, I thought you should know that.**_

_**Now should make some sort of disclaimer here? Well just in case, all I own is my wit and charm!**_

Chapter 2: Under the Big Top

It had been a few years since Aaron had been living from boxcar to boxcar and dumpster to dumpster.

He had had a few odd jobs over the last three years, but they were only out of necessity, never out of a want to stay in one place. He had become accustomed to his transient lifestyle. Never having to answer to anyone and it allowed him to travel and see the States in a way that most people never did.

As Aaron had a way with people, no one had ever felt uncomfortable with his presence in their cities. It probably had to do with the way he was raised, but he never wanted to ever harm anyone, and that seemed to come across to those he met.

He still had a knack for finding some pretty substantial meals that people had thrown out, but in almost every town he came too, he almost always had a hot home cooked meal and a soft bed to sleep in. People just felt like they could trust him. If Aaron was being honest with himself, he completely took advantage of peoples trust, but he never abused it. He was extremely appreciative and grateful for everyone who ever took him into their homes.

Every home he left, he felt like they were more of a family to him than his own ever was. He knew it was because they pitied him, but he was okay with that. If their pity meant that he had good food in his stomach and a nice roof over his head, than he'd take it.

Aaron wasn't too proud to accept handouts. Sometimes on the long train rides he would ask himself how he ever got to the point where he would have to resorted to living on peoples pity, but then his father's face would always creep into his mind. He would recall the countless beatings and then look down at one of the many scars left by the hands of his father. His father was the reason he was living off of pity and Shepherd's Pie.

_God I hate that asshole!_ That was the thought that went through Aaron's head almost every day. It had been three years and he still hated him just as much as ever. He wondered if he would ever be able to at the very least move on from it all. He needed a distraction. Something that would just make him forget that bastard for a while.

As the train started to slow down, Aaron moved to grab his bag without even thinking about it. His actions were so much a routine by now that he didn't even register that he was doing it. He jumped out of the slowing car and made his way across the tracks to the chain link fence. He walked down the streets of town, smiling at the women and children passing him by. He made his way to the end of town and noticed a group pitching a tent. The biggest tent he had ever seen. It was like someone vomited a primary color wheel all over it. Aaron was mesmerized. He couldn't get over how captivating it was. The colors, the people, the animals, her. If Aaron didn't know better, he'd say he just found what it was that would make him forget his troubled past.

What wasn't totally clear was whether it was everything going on around him, or if it was just her. Her long dark hair plastered to her neck from the heat of the noonday sun; her shirt clinging perfectly to all the right places; her short jean shorts showed off her mile long legs and made them look like they went on for days.

Feeling like someone was watching her, the girl turned and locked eyes with Aaron. She smiled at him and Aaron tried to make it look like he wasn't staring at her ass, but he knew that he was more than obvious.

"Hey! You!" The girl shouted. "Instead of staring at my ass, could you wipe the drool off your chin and come over here and give me a hand? At least make yourself useful." Aaron checked to see if he was literally drooling. This made the girl laugh out loud and Aaron shook his head.

"Umm… wha… um… yah!" Aaron stuttered, feeling like a complete jackass. _Nice, Aaron. The first time you see a pretty face in three years you act like a complete dipshit. Wonderful. Just great. God she's hot. _

"Are you going to just gawk at me or are you going to help me?" The girl chuckled as Aaron finally made his way over to help her with the tarps. She gave him instructions as to what to do with the tarps and she left him to do as he was told. Aaron was more than willing to do what she told him. And he'd stay around just to get another look at her. More so to get another look at her backside.

After Aaron was done with the tarps, he sat back and took off his sweaty shirt. It was the middle of summer and he had just spent the past three hours unrolling and organizing the tarps as per his instructions from Belle (he had to call her something instead of _that girl_ so he settled on a name that suited her perfectly). He leaned back against a bail of hay and closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful nap dreaming about the girl who he knew would play a constant staring role in his dreams.

"You must be the guy Em was talking about." A man approached Aaron and it startled him out of his very good dream. "So, whadya think? Want a job? We'll be in town for three weeks and pretty much you'd be shoveling elephant shit, sweeping the rings once the shows are done, and it certainly isn't glamorous. How long did this take you, man?"

"Umm, excuse me? Who are you?" Aaron asked, still not sure what was going on.

"The names Rossi. I own this circus here. Now answer the question, son." Rossi seemed to be getting irritated with Aaron.

"Umm, it took a little under three hours." Aaron was looking for a glimmer of something reminiscent of his father in Rossi's eyes, but the irritation he initially thought he saw soon turned to something closer to pride. _That's odd,_ Aaron thought.

"Well son. Whether you like it or not your hired. It normally takes three morons five hours to do this. Nice job. What's your name boy?" Rossi asked with a smile spreading across his lips.

"Aaron Hotchner, sir. And thank you. I really appreciate the work. Anything else I can help with?" Aaron asked standing up and extending his hand to shake that of his new boss.

"Listen Aaron, it's great that you're all business, but relax! Have you had lunch yet?" Rossi started walking off motioning for Aaron to follow. "Em's around somewhere. Go ahead and find her and tell her to go see Garcia for some lunch. Tell her I'm up for something to."

"Um, sure thing. Who's Em?" _God please let it be Belle. Please let it be Belle. _Aaron was secretly praying this 'Em' was the gorgeous brunette he was gawking at earlier.

"You've already met her!" Rossi grinned at Aaron because clearly she had told him about their meeting.

"Right. Thanks again Rossi." Aaron took off in search of his circus queen in short shorts. Aaron was beginning to think that life under the big top would prove to be exciting.

_**A/N: So there is chapter 2. Just so everyone knows, I pretty much suck at writing conversations. So hopefully, for all of you, I can figure out a way to NOT make them sound to abysmally robotic idiotic. **_

_**So read, review and recycle, because green is the new black! **_


	3. The Ringmaster and His Circus Freaks

_**A/N: I thought it was important to introduce all the other characters. I know that this is mainly about H/P but it's not all about them. And besides, I had fun thinking up rolls for the other team members. **_

_**Just a quick side note: this circus is INDEED called 'Legacy CIRQUS'. That is not a typo. It just adds a little more flair, I think.**_

Chapter 3: The Ringmaster and his Merry Band of Circus Freaks

David Rossi was a man of many talents, and of many hats. It's true that he was the owner of Legacy Cirqus, but that wasn't his only contribution. He was also the Ringmaster. Each night when the curtains would fall from the rafters, he would become the ultimate puppeteer everyone else became his puppets. He could play an audience like a fiddle. Everyone held onto his every word, his every move. David Rossi lived for it. He loved having people eating out of the palm of his hand.

Outside the Rings, he was just Rossi. None of his crew really took him seriously, and not to mention the fact that they didn't take their jobs that seriously. This was the circus after all.

When Rossi approached Aaron Hotchner relaxing against that hay bail, he wasn't expecting much. He was only going to keep him around for Emily. She wanted to see him again, that much he could tell by the flush creeping across her cheeks. And Rossi knew it wasn't from the heat. He would keep him around for the three weeks that they were in town. Emily deserved a little fun.

After sending Aaron off with his lunch order, Rossi started scheming as to how to convince this young, strong, respectful kid to run away and join the circus. He had a feeling Emily would be a key player in this scheme, but he was sure she'd play along. This thought made the corners of Rossi's lips turn upwards. Emily was stubborn, headstrong and extremely independent. If this guy could break her out of her shell then he was more than welcome to 'befriend' his Flying Angel.

Rossi could have thought of several different career paths he could have traveled down. He didn't have to join the circus. But he did. He had been with Legacy for 25 years now. Rossi was tired. Tired of this life. Tired of traveling. Tired of not having a home. He was just tired. He knew his days were numbered, but he needed to find someone to take over for him. To become the new ringleader. He had no children to pass HIS legacy onto. He had three ex-wives but all of them seemed to be smart enough to not reproduce with a circus performer. He was holding out for the right person for him to mold into the perfect replacement.

For six years Rossi had been looking, but no one that currently worked for him regularly was by any means qualified (in his opinion) to lead. The few performers he had who were competent enough to take charge weren't 'Ringmaster' material. And besides that, they were good at what they did.

Jennifer, or JJ as everyone called her, was his ringside assistant. His beautiful, blonde, blue-eyed songbird that mesmerized everyone. Each song she sang throughout the show captivated audiences. Men, women and children alike were hypnotized by her melodies; all the while she assisted Rossi as he played the audience.

She walked those rings and knew how to play off of Rossi. They worked well together. She was his right hand man… woman… person. Whatever. Being politically correct was becoming more of an issue these days, but he was old school. He and his circus had been 'booed' out of one city because they were saying he was a chauvinist. Whatever. He didn't care. And the girls didn't mind either. Hell, they were the first to laugh it off with a few shots of Scotch.

Derek, or as Garcia called him, the Chocolate God of Thunder, was a part of the trapeze act. He'd throw Emily through the air like she was nothing. It was amazing. Not only was their act amazing, but what was also amazing was the catcalls that were shouted when Derek walked out into the rings. They were harmless really, but what always made Rossi have to suppress a laugh was when they got out of hand and got obscene. For all the flack the circus got for being 'sexist', having Derek around made it clear to him that deep down they were all alike. The men came to see the women; the women came to see the Chocolate God.

Penelope Garcia was on of the most exciting things that ever walked into the rings. Her personality was as bright as the clothes she wore on a nightly basis. Pen had her own following. Men, and women, knew of her from all over the world and they would hear of her act and come just for her.

Before joining Legacy, Pen was your self-professed computer nerd. But after hacking into some, shall we say 'sensitive government files', she was driven underground (whatever that means). That's when she met Rossi and his band of misfit toys. Rossi knew he could use her. She added a certain, je ne sais quoi, to the shows. But her abilities went far beyond cyberspace. She was a clown. But not just your run of the mill, ordinary, oversized pants and shoes type of clown. She was like a live action version of a comic book character. Which one? Take your pick. She had a new persona every night. Rossi didn't know how she came up with them and to be honest, he never asked.

Spencer Reid was the biggest shock of all. To the outside world, he was a scrawny, awkward genius with an IQ of 187. He was a child really. I mean, he was 27, but he would get so excited about the strangest things. He was just so naïve and innocent that when he came out into the rings, people would either laugh or gasp when he came out for his act.

What was so shocking was that Spence, all 153 pounds of him, was the animal trainer. The elephants, monkeys, bears, lions, and even the mice were his charges. Everyone expected Derek to lead Mimo the Lion out into the centre ring, not Spencer. Derek was afraid of Mimo. For all his bark, this lion was as tame as a kitten. He liked having his belly rubbed for crying out loud! And Derek was so scared of him. God of Thunder my ass.

Spencer loved these animals because they understood him. They never made him feel like an idiot for taking someone literally. They just accepted him and loved him. They understood him. And in return, Spencer understood them. To Spencer, they were equals. On more than one occasion, he would rattle of some obscure statistic about the inherent intelligence of elephants or that statistically, blah, blah, blah.

Then there was Emily. Em. The Flying Angel. Rossi could very well have been her father, but as he wasn't, he certainly wasn't immune to her. When she was up on that trapeze, flying so fluidly through the air, no one, not even Rossi, could take their eyes off her. Em was only 17 and she had her demons, but when she was up there, flying forty feet above the crowd, that's where she was free.

She knew she got looks everywhere she went, and she knew that when she took centre stage, she became every mans fantasy. But even with all the attention so clearly and blatantly focused solely on her, Emily was fairly insecure. Of what, Rossi could never figure out. He'd never ask, because he wasn't the prying type, but Emily was like a daughter to him and that meant that he'd protect her. From what he'd protect her he had no idea. But he'd give his left nut for her if he had too.

As much of a following as the other performers had, Rossi knew people came for her. He knew people came to see her. They came to see the Legacy Angel.

There were many things Rossi could have done with his life. He didn't have to accept when his predecessor, Jason Gideon, past the proverbial torch on to him. But as David Rossi sat there in the fading daylight of that summer day, he thought about his mish-mash crew and realized that he wouldn't have it any other way. That his life had turned out exactly as it should. That these people weren't just his crew they were his family. And as he gazed off into the setting sun, Rossi realized he'd give his WHOLE package for any one of his family. He sure hoped it wouldn't come to that. However, eunuchs were awfully powerful back in the Ming Dynasty, so maybe… _Nice thought to end on, Dave. Nice. _And with that thought still gruesomely flowing through his mind, Rossi decided to forgo dinner for the night and see if he could still get in on the nights poker action.

_**A/N: okay, so yes that was not how I had intended to end this chapter. I was trying to think of some way to let Rossi think he could get magical powers. If you didn't read between the lines and figured out that Rossi is ill, well then I just ruined it for you. I'm still up in the air as to whether I think he should die. Let me know what you think. It's clearly a little too early to tell how this story will turn out, but feedback would be appreciated. I don't even know what he has either. What do you think? Cancer; degenerative liver failure; a rare East Indian tapeworm slowly and painfully digesting his brain; or how 'bout a generational curse cast upon the first owner by gypsies which is now past down from ringmaster to ringmaster.**_

_**I digress. For some reason, when I was thinking about powers and whatnot, Eunuchs was where my mind went. Nice, right. Well, it is true that back in the Ming Dynasty there were close to 70,000 eunuchs and they were quite powerful. Here is an interesting fact for you: they stopped using eunuchs in Imperial courts in China in 1912.**_

_**Well, there is the factoid for this chapter, but sadly I missed putting one in for chapter one, and two! The shame! So #1: there are approximately 233,000 miles of railroad track in the United States; #2: the first American circus was on April 3, 1793 in Philadelphia put on by John Bill Ricketts.**_

_**As always Read, Review, Recycle!**_


	4. You are Such a LOSEBAG!

_**A/N: this chapter may be a little sappy but I felt like I needed to move things along a bit. I also want to dedicate this chapter to my sister who is a crazy-composting-grow-your-own-vegetables-cloth-diapering type of girl.**_

Chapter 4: You are Such a LOSEBAG!

It had been three days. Three days since Aaron joined Legacy. Three days of him shoveling shit into buckets and using it for composting. Aaron felt like he had entered into some sort of alternate reality. These people were bizarre circus performers who liked to compost and grow their own vegetables. They were crazy, composting, strip poker playing CIRCUS FREAKS!

But in all honesty, Aaron had never felt more at home in his life. Granted, if he stayed with Legacy, he hoped he could move up the ladder, so to speak, but he was beginning to see these people as his friends.

"Aaron?" A tentative voice snapped Aaron out of his reverie. "Are you okay?"

"What? Oh, yah. I'm fine. Just deep in thought I guess", he replied scooping the last of the elephant droppings into a bucket.

"Must have been some seriously deep thoughts. You were standing there for like, five minutes, just staring off into space." Emily took a few cautious steps closer to Aaron.

Aaron felt something in the pit of his stomach. _Was she actually worried about me? _Aaron thought. "No, I'm fine. Thanks though. Just chalk it up to being exposed to elephant shit all morning and the fact that it's like, 9000 degrees in here." He shot here a half dimpled smile and a wink, hoping to relieve some of her concern.

"Well, good. Garcia was worried when you didn't come for lunch, so I offered to bring you something." She handed him a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Did you do something to piss her off? We all got fried chicken for lunch and al you get is a stinkin' sandwich." Emily turned up her nose as Aaron took the first bite of his sandwich.

"I'm a simple guy, Em. I don't need much. I've survived on less." Aaron wasn't really thinking about what he was saying because if he had, he wouldn't have said anything at all. He didn't want to delve into his past, and Emily was the last person he wanted to share his sordid past with.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I don't want to get into it, if you don't mind."

"Well, why'd you bring it up then? If you didn't' want to get into it, you wouldn't have said anything." From the moment Emily saw Aaron, he had caught her interest and curiosity, and she wasn't about to let this go. He beyond intrigued her and if he had his own dark secrets, maybe she could finally talk to someone about everything she'd kept inside for all these years.

"Just DROP it Emily!" I don't want to talk about it! Leave. It. Alone!" Aaron pretty much spat the last three words at her. He wished he hadn't because the look in her eyes was murderous and it made him feel cowardly and about two inches tall.

"You know all I wanted to do was talk. Get to know you a little. You know, be your friend! But apparently, the Great Aaron Hotchner is above sharing his secrets with me! You'll talk to Derek, Rossi, JJ, and Garcia. God, you'll even talk to REID! So why won't you talk to me? I'm not good enough, is that it? Because I'm just a "little girl"? Well, listen here you self-centered, egotistical, piece of shit LOSEBAG," she jabbed her index finger into his chest with each adjective she spat in his face, "I'm not some bimbo chick you can flash your dimples at and get whatever you want. Don't presume to know the first thing about me or what I've been through!" With that, Emily turned on her heels and started out of the tent. She stopped at the entrance and shot over her shoulder, "Garcia wants the plate back." And without even looking back she left him there, rooted in place.

Aaron was dumbstruck. He'd had his ass handed to him on plenty occasions by his father, but this was worse. He had hurt her by cutting into her for no reason at all. This was the first time they'd actually spoken and now Aaron was sure that she'd never speak to him again.

It's not like he didn't want to talk to someone about his past. It was more that he secretly didn't want to forgive his father. He wasn't ready to let it go. Aaron had no one in his life so holding onto that hate was all he had. It didn't make sense he knew that. It was irrational and unhealthy. And it was clearly pushing people away. Somehow, he had to make this right.

Emily was beyond fuming. She had never in her entire life been so utterly pissed off. She was down right… _GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!_ That was the only thought that was running through her mind. She was so wrapped up in how she was going to tear Aaron Hotchner a new one that she didn't hear JJ and Garcia walk up behind her.

Without any warning, a bucket of freezing cold water was dumped on her head.

"WHAT. THE. HELL. ARE. YOU. DOING?" Emily shouted at the two obviously guilty women.

'Just thought you needed to cool down." Garcia stated matter of factly.

"Yah, the trail of smoke that you left in your wake as you stormed past us got us a little worried." JJ added. "What's got you so heated?"

"THAT… ASSHOLE…" That was all she could get out before JJ threw another bucket of equally freezing water in her face. "FUCK you guys! STOP! What the HELL?"

"Stop yelling at us and we'll stop soaking you." JJ told her in an even, collected tone.

Emily stood there. She couldn't believe them. Then she looked behind Garcia and saw another bucket of water and knew that their threats were real.

"Good. Now tell us who this Asshole is so we can go tear his balls off." A huge grin spread across Garcia's lips, almost like she was hoping Emily would ask her to go through with the treat.

"Aaron." Emily sighed. "I went to give him his lunch… he said something… I pushed it… he told me to drop it… I didn't… he yelled," Emily paused for a moment, "I called him a losebag." Emily hung her head because as he gave her friends the fragmented version of their conversation, she realized that just as Aaron didn't know the first thing about her, she also didn't know anything about him. "Oh god. I feel like such a spaz. I ripped his head off for no reason. God I'm such a flake." She felt completely defeated.

"Well, just keep in mind that you came to this conclusion on your own. We," JJ motioned between her and Garcia, "did nothing to influence your self-proclamation." There was a pause before Emily reached behind them and subsequently dowsed them both with the bucket of cold water.

Shocked, Garcia said, "You are… in… so much trouble… missy!" Her teeth were chattering and her lips had already turned blue. Emily took off running because she knew that the treat was anything but empty.

Aaron didn't know how long he sat in the tent for. A lot of the things that Emily said were true. He really did only talk to Rossi, Derek and Spencer about personal stuff. They knew about his train hoping and dumpster diving, and they sort of knew about his father. He'd talk to JJ and Garcia too, but more about the psyche of the male mind. They would constantly pick his brain for new ways to torment the others.

But he never talked to Emily.

He knew why. He liked her. A LOT. And he didn't know how to deal with that. He'd see her doing her warm-ups with Derek and he'd sneak in to see the show, but he'd only stay for her act, then go back to cleaning. He knew she knew he did this because she would make fun of his antics later on in the evenings.

But what had him stuck in his thoughts right now was that she might be just as damaged as he was. She had dark secrets too, and that made him sad. He prayed that she hadn't had a father like his who would take things out on her, or an uncle who would sneak into her room at night. Aaron's heart broke a little bit with each horrible scenario his mind thought up about a beautiful little Emily as a child. With each heartbreaking though, tears started trickling down his cheeks and before his could stop himself, Aaron was full on weeping for whatever it was that had happened to Emily.

Lost in his thoughts and tears, Aaron didn't notice the figure standing just inside the flap to the tent. He didn't notice her quietly make her way to where he had slumped to the ground. He didn't even notice her sit down next to him.

When his sobs had finally stopped, she spoke in a whisper that was only meant for his ears. "Aaron, I'm not here to apologize and I don't want t you to apologize to me. I'm not here to say I was wrong. You were wrong to snap at me but," she paused, "I wasn't exactly right to feed you your balls like that either. I'm not saying I was wrong," she added quickly, "I'm just saying I wasn't right."

They both sat in silence for a few more minutes before Emily turned to him and locked eyes with him for the first time since Aaron had first seen her a few days ago. Emily placed her hand on his, sending shivers throughout Aaron's whole body. "I want to understand you, Aaron. I really do. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I get it. Trust me, I get it." She looked away from him, but didn't let go of his hand. "Rossi wants you to stay and travel with us permanently. Everyone does."

"Do you?" Aaron spoke for the first time since she saw him break down.

Aaron's gaze never left her and when she finally looked back into his eyes, he saw them glistening with tears on the verge of escaping her perfect brown eyes. She leaned forward and captured his lips in a sweet and tender kiss. That was all the answer Aaron needed.

Emily let go of Aaron's hands and stood to leave.

"Wait. Emily there's something I need to know." Aaron asked stopping Emily dead in her tracks.

"Aaron, please. I'm not going to push you so PLEASE don't push me back. Right now is not the time to talk about our dark and gruesome pasts."

_GRUESOME! Great, now there are more images of you I didn't need to have._ "No, Emily I need to know. It's been driving me crazy all day. Please!"

Emily just hung head and stared at her shoes. After a moment she nodded for Aaron to ask his question.

"Thank you. I really need to know and I really need for you to be honest with me." Emily was freaking out. She didn't want to talk about this, not right now. "I need for you to tell me what a LOSEBAG is."

Emily snapped her head up. That was the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. Aaron was relieved that the tension was gone between them. But as Emily's fist connected with his diaphragm, there was a new sort of tension in his now constricting muscles.

"What the hell was that for?" Aaron asked once he was able to catch his breath again.

"Because that, Aaron Hotchner, is what you get for making get all worked up." She held out her hand to help him off the ground and he pulled her to his chest.

"Fine, but seriously, what does it mean?"

"I don't know it just came out. Now come on. Garcia heard that you LOVE Shepherd's Pie, so guess what she made for you?" She pushed away from him and started to walk off in the direction of the dinning tent.

"STOP. STARING. AT. MY. ASS! Perve." Emily laughed as Aaron just shook his head and made his way to catch up with her.

"You do know that I hate Shepherd's Pie, right?"

"Yup! But I told Garcia that you normally have thirds so you better thank her when you're done."

"I think I hate you right now, Emily."

"Meh. You'll get over it." She leaned up and kissed him again on the lips. As he trailed a hand down the to the small of her back, he realized he had it bad. And he was pretty sure she knew it.

_**A/N: wow, sorry this was a tad long. I was trying to figure out a way to bring them together and then this just came out of left field. And yes, Emily's past is pretty gruesome. I came up with the idea after having an exceptionally strange dream. It was a cheese-induced dream so needless to say it was beyond bizarre. Did you know that the reason cheese is so addictive is because it has small amounts of morphine in it that is produced by the cow's liver? Well, now you do!**_

_**Again, I love it when you read, review and recycle (used coffee grounds are great for composting… just saying)!**_


	5. Sequins, Feathers and Acid Trips

_**A/N: so this chapter takes place about a year and a half after chapter 4. Hopefully in the next few chapters I will be delving more into Aaron and Emily's past. And yes, Rossi is still sick, but b/c I haven't got the foggiest what he has (suggestions are welcome), or even if it's terminal, it hasn't really affected him much.**_

Chapter 5: Sequins, Feathers and Acid Trips

Aaron had been a full-fledged circus performer for a year and a half now. He even had a dazzling costume, which Garcia made just for him. When he told her there was no way in hell he would ever be caught dead in that monstrosity, Garcia broke down and ran from the dressing room. Emily was clearly more loyal to her friend then her boyfriend. She said it was a sisterhood thing. But whatever it was that finally made Aaron cave and agree to wear it, it brought peace back to Legacy.

His first night in the rings he just stood there or did whatever Garcia made him do. Rossi pretty much made him Garcia's bitch and she had her way with him in front of a full house. For his debut (and every subsequent night after that), Garcia had him in purple sequined capri tights; a lavender bustier overtop of a feathered dickey; a bedazzled shrug with shoulder pads up to his ears; his hair was slicked back and parted on the side; and the shoes! Please, lets not forget those! Think Mary Poppins, but pink and sparkly.

As delicious as he looked, it was his makeup that really made him want to shoot himself. It wasn't over the top by any means. It was modest and conservative… for a drag queen!

Emily helped him apply it every night before they'd go on. She loved applying his lipstick (and Aaron didn't mind this process either). First she'd apply the hooker red colour to her own lips then they'd make out for a good five, ten minutes. Garcia said she liked the "I just had sex" look that it gave him.

The shows normally started around six so Aaron and Emily would start getting ready around four… together. That way they had plenty of time to fool around pre and post wardrobe and makeup.

Aaron would get all dressed up in his star sprinkled party clothes and Emily would just stare at him. One day he called her on it.

"Okay, don't chew my head off because I'm just quoting you here but, stop staring at my ass, perve!"

"Huh?"

"Every night you sit there, in practically nothing, while I put this on and you just stare at me. It's a little unsettling."

"Promise you won't laugh?" She seemed a little shy.

"No."

"Aaron!"

"I'm waiting!" Aaron crossed his arms across his chest, fingering the feathers of his dickey and started tapping his pointed shiny toe, feigning annoyance.

Emily couldn't help herself. She knew she wasn't getting hot just from the temperature in the trailer. "I don't know why but this," she trailed her fingers from his knee very slowly up his inner thigh, finally intertwining them with his hands in the feathers, "really turns me on." She sucked an earlobe into her mouth.

Aaron jerked he head away from her now very pouty lips. "Are you shitting me? Seriously, this is what gets you all hot for me?"

"Trust me Aaron, this isn't the only thing that gets me hot but, I don't know, it's kind of kinky." She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down and captured his lips in a very steamy kiss.

After tripping over one of Emily's shoes and ending up tumbling on the floor for a few minutes, Aaron pinned her to the floor and straddled her small waist with his sequined clad legs. He pulled away from her, eliciting a whimper from Emily.

"For real now. You actually see this as a turn on?"

"YES! Why are you complaining? I practically jump your bones every night. I don't know what your problem is." Emily tried to get up to kiss him again, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.

"I look like a woodland creature on a cracked out acid trip! How could this possibly turn you on?"

"Because it DOES!" Emily pried her arms free and cupped Aaron's ass, pulling him and his hips closer to her then he already was. They locked eyes and he could see and feel the heat in her. She gave him a saucy grin the pushed him off of her. "You have to help me get dressed and you have to be out there soon my little crack elf."

She quickly washed the lipstick off of her face and started applying her own makeup, finishing with Aaron's dark eye makeup and false feather eyelashes. She shimmied into her sage green boy cut spandex briefs. She turned and shied away from Aaron's lust filled eyes as she took off her bra and quickly put on her corset that matched her briefs. It's true they fooled around a lot, but it was never more than that. They were still teenagers and Emily wasn't ready to take that step. And Aaron would never push her. They'd got pretty close a few times but even though it was Emily who persisted, Aaron loved and respected her too much to do that to her. He knew that she would hate herself if she ever gave in, and he was pretty sure she would hate him for letting her. So every night Aaron would lace her up into what he thought to be the most uncomfortable torture device ever conceived by man. He loved the way it made her look. She was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen and in that corset… _God I'm a lucky guy!_

Too many things in his life had been messed up. Emily was the one person that he had vowed to do right by. He hadn't said it yet, but he was head over heels in love with her. He wasn't going to mess this up.

When they were ready to head out, Aaron stopped and stared at the two of them in the floor-length mirror. "We make quite a pair, you and I. You look beautiful, you know that?"

Emily started to blush. "You've never told me that before."

"Well, I think it every night." He kissed the back of her hand. It was the simplest gesture but it brought tears to Emily's eyes.

She turned and made her way out of the trailer but stopped as she reached the door. "Aaron, I love you." Not wanting him to laugh in her face, she ran out of the trailer leaving Aaron behind, speechless.

_**A/N: I wanted to make it clear that because in this reality, Aaron and Emily are still teens, I didn't want them to have that type of relationship yet. **_

_**If you hadn't noticed, I like to try and incorporate a little factoid in each chapter that somehow relates. So here it is, folks: capri pants were first designed by European fashion designer, Sonja de Lannart, in 1948. The name 'capri' originates from the isle of Capri, in Italy. Grace Kelly was one of the first movie stars to wear them on the island.**_

_**I don't know why I insist on doing this in each chapter, but I think it's fun. And don't you feel a little bit smarted knowing all the tidbits of useless information I'm feeding you? **_

_**I really would like some suggestions on what sort of illness Rossi might have. It's hard to come up with something that is highly manageable (seeing as he's had it for going on 7 ½ years now) but also that could be life threatening. **_

_**R, R, R!**_


	6. Author's note

_**Okay, so I know that it's been a while since I've updated but I have a REALLY good excuse.**_

_**My sister and three nephews are in town from Gatineau, Quebec. My sister is a bit of computer genius and likes to monopolize it while I get to play devoted aunt/babysitter. Not that I mind. I love my nephews, but it also leaves me only midnight computer access.**_

_**It's kind of cool though. Her husband works for the Canadian Foreign Services and in two weeks my sister and my 7 year old, 3 year old and 18 month old nephews will be moving down to Bogota, Columbia for a year. Because that's not the most random thing you've ever heard, right? **_

_**Well, it's super exciting/terrifying for them. And it's only a year. Their ideal country to work in would be Sudan, so given the two options, I think Columbia is probably the safer of the two.**_

_**I've written several more chapters to **_**Circus**_** and have also started another story (which I started during **_**Shark Week**_**, so it's AU as well) and have a few others floating around up in my twisted, demented brain. I did, however, have to change the category from **_**Humor/Romance **_**because although I want to keep it light-hearted and whatnot, well, it's not so funny anymore.**_

_**I'll be posting the next chapter up tomorrow so have no fear my fellow and loyal FanFictionites! More is yet to come!**_

_**You don't have to review this, but at least recycle!**_


	7. Focus, Focus, Focus

_**A/N: okay as promised, here is the next chapter to my little twisted circus. They deal a lot with Emily's past. And as I said before, this is what I dreamt about after watching **_**American Justice**_** and eating a grilled cheese sandwich. **_

Chapter 6: Focus, Focus, Focus

Tonight's show was a disaster. There was so much tension in those three rings that it could have been cut with a knife. Everyone was on edge. Okay, that's not totally true. The show went off just like every other night. Legacy wasn't all clowns and animal tricks. Legacy definitely wasn't your typical Circus Gatti.

Legacy told a story. Each night JJ would sing a new haunting melody, Garcia was someone new every night and everyone somehow got the message as to what the story was. Tonight's show wasn't a disaster. Emily was the disaster. And the only tension was between her and Aaron.

Emily normally didn't have to focus on her routines with Derek. She just did them. Hell, she could probably do them in her sleep. Everyone still cheered (and the men still gawked). No one saw that she was off. All she wanted was for this night to be over.

After the show was over and they were about to take their bows, Emily moved as far away from Aaron as possible. He thought this was kind of adorable. She was so flustered and out of sorts, and knowing that he made her that way made him swell with a selfish pride. She was his and he had her in knots.

After the final bow, Emily ran from the tent, needing a lot of time away from Aaron and his burning eyes. He'd been staring at her all night, something he hadn't done since his first week with Legacy. It was driving her bananas! What in the hell was he playing at? What did it mean? _You're out of your fucking mind! Why did you tell him you loved him? Now he's gonna get scared and run away and never talk to you again! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Emily had been pacing back and forth berating herself for going on two hours. She had never let a guy get to her like Aaron had. He was a distraction to her entire existence. He was so much of a distraction that she didn't hear the soft footsteps on the ground behind her. Not paying any attention to what was happening, she didn't notice when the evening air became quiet once again, except for the occasional four-letter word that escaped Emily's lips.

Then all of sudden she stopped pacing and cursing. She smelt the air and got chills over her whole body. She spun around to see who was there but all she could make out was the dark silhouette of a person about twenty feet away from her. She couldn't really see him, but she could smell him. A smell she hadn't smelt in thirteen years. It was a mix of Bourbon, body odor, human filth and iron. "Who's there?" She yelled out into the darkness not really expecting anyone to answer.

Emily wasn't stupid enough to wait around to find out if he would answer her back, so she took off running towards her trailer. She needed to change and go see him! Besides Aaron, he was the only person she trusted with her life. Sure, she trusted everyone at Legacy, they were her family, but she needed him. He was the only one who could help her. She needed to get away from here and that god awful smell.

She quickly changed into some jeans and her favourite sweater (which she stole from Aaron), hurriedly tied up her Chuck Taylor's and bolted out of her trailer only to be knocked flat on her ass.

"Geez girl! Where's the fire?"

"I don't have time for this, Derek. I need to go."

"And where, pray tell, are you going? Pen's got dinner all ready. Come on darling."

"NO DEREK! I. NEED. TO. GO!" She didn't mean to yell but she really needed to get out of here. She hadn't realized how loud she had yelled until everyone started coming out of the dining tent. She could feel Aaron staring at her and it made her want to leave that much more. She loved him, she'd already admitted that out loud, but she didn't want this to be how he found out about what had happened.

"Em, come on. What's gotten into you? You were distracted up there tonight and now you're all manic and shit! What the hell happened?" Derek was like Emily's big brother and seeing her like this was scaring him.

Emily brushed past him and ran to Rossi. "I need the keys. I need to get somewhere." Rossi stared down into her huge brown, terrified eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and could feel her shaking. "I'm coming with you."

Watching Emily and Rossi drive away, the rest of the team was left there having no clue as to what was going on. It was Garcia who finally broke the silence after looking into each of their confused eyes. "You guys do know where we are, right?"

"Santa Anna. What does that have to do with anything?" For once, Reid was stuck. His genius mind failing to come up with any statistical facts about their present location.

"It's really not my place to say what happened here. And besides, I don't know all the details."

"Penelope, spit it out. What's got our girl so stirred up?" Derek was getting really anxious.

"I don't know, guys. This isn't my business to tell. I'm not even supposed to know."

"Penelope, PLEASE!" JJ was on the verge of tears. She was getting more and more worried. She loved Emily like a sister and it killed her to see her so upset. "We're a family Penelope. She's our family." JJ pleaded, tears escaping her blue red-rimmed eyes.

Garcia sighed and motioned for everyone to come back in and sit down. "You sure you want to know?" Everyone nodded, except Aaron. If this was about Emily's past, Penelope Garcia was not going to be the one to tell him about it. He got up to leave.

"Hotch, where you going? This is about Emily!" Derek had nicknamed Aaron 'Hotch' a few months after he started with Legacy and it seemed to have stuck.

"Exactly." He didn't say anything else. He just left the tent. In the year and a half that they had been dating, she had never once brought up her dark secrets. Aaron had started to open up to her more about his life. He knew that the only way she would eventually open up to him was if she completely trusted him. He knew that this was big and he also knew that she had told him that she would tell him when she was ready.

Aaron left the tent and went for a walk. He needed to clear his head. He didn't want to think about what was bothering her, or better yet, what was terrifying her. All he wanted to do was think about the fact that she was in love with him. He had been in love with her pretty much since he first saw her and now he knew for certain that she loved him back, he just wished he knew what was going on.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: I'm BAAAAAAACK! My oh my, where has the time gone? Well first and foremost, my utmost apologies for being gone for so long! I've been in the midst of doing my Funeral Directing studies and have been beyond BEYOND busy! But I'm nearing the homestretch so, YAY!**_

_**Anyways, I haven't got much done on this story but I do have this chapter done. It's short and sweet, so take it for what it's worth. I will add that I have missed my fantasy world and am delighted and tickled to FINALLY have a bit more time to spend on these interwebbed pages!**_

**Chapter 7: Monsters in the Night**

The car ride was painfully quiet. Emily had dug out the old yellow stained card from her wallet and handed it to Rossi. The card was clearly at least a decade old so Rossi was hoping that the number that had been written on the back was still in use. He also hoped he had made it out correctly. The numbers had faded and had so many creases in them that it was hard to make out exactly what the numbers were.

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

_Ring…_

'Hello?"

"Umm, hi. My name is David Rossi and umm, this may sound a little strange but, do you know a Emily Prentiss?" Rossi barely got Emily's last name out before he was cut off by the man on the other line.

"Is she ok?"

"Well, I don't really know what is doing on. She gave me your card and I was hoping we could meet." _What the hell,_ Rossi thought, _who is this guy?_

"Meet me at the Santa Anna Police Station. The Address hasn't changed so it should still be on the card. When you get there, tell the desk Sergeant that you are waiting for Lieutenant James Green. I'll be there in about 15 minutes." With that, Lt. Green hung up the phone and left Rossi even more confused than before.

They pulled into the station about five minutes later. Rossi got out of the car expecting Emily to do the same but when he looked back, she was just sitting staring out the window.

"Emily, sweetheart. We're here. Lt. Green will be here right away." Rossi gently guided her out of the car and they walked into the station. Emily never made a sound. She just walked where Rossi guided her, a glazed over, far-away look in her eyes. An officer who looked from Rossi to an extremely pale, sweating, and shaking Emily, greeted them.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm David Rossi and this is Emily Prentiss. We're waiting for Lt. Green."

"Prentiss?" The officer looked again at Emily. This time it seemed like he recognized her. Or at least it seemed like he knew who she was. "His office is just up the hall. He just called and said he was five minutes out. Can I get either of you anything?"

"No. I don't think she'd take anything. And even if she did, I don't think she'd be able to keep it down. Thank you though."

A lifetime seemed to pass in the next few minutes. Rossi had tried to shake Emily out of whatever sort of horrific reverie she had descended into, but nothing seemed to help. All he wanted was for this Lt. Green to get there. Hopefully, he could shed some light on what was going on. As if reading his mind, the door opened and middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair walked into the office. Without making any introductions, he walked in and went straight to Emily.

Lt. Green knelt down in front of a beautiful, young woman. But when he took a minute to really look at her, she was still that terrified, vulnerable, fragile little girl he had met years before.

He took her trembling hands in his and just held them for a few minutes. He never took his eyes away from hers. For a while, there was nothing there. Like everything that had happened to her was to horrible to relive so she just retreated into herself where she felt safe.

Lt. Green never pushed her. He just let her take her time and try and process whatever it was that she needed to process. Finally, her eyes cleared and she was now looking into the soft, caring eyes of Lt. Green. "There you are."

Emily broke down and collapsed in his strong arms. "He's back. I saw him. I felt him. I could feel him staring at me. I know it was him." She took a breath before really looking into his eyes, pleading and desperate. "Are you going to catch him this time?"

"Trust me. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he stays away from you."

Emily straightened up. She pulled away from Lt. Green and stood in one fluid movement. Instead of a glazed over, pathetic look in her eyes, fire was now burning throughout her entire body. "You're going to make sure he stays away from me?" She was beyond pissed. She was shaking now but for a whole other reason. "Make sure he stays away from me? What the fuck! This weasel-fuck slaughters my mother and my baby brother right in front of me and for thirteen years you've done dick all, and now you'll make sure he stays away from me! FUCK YOU!"

"Emily." Rossi couldn't believe this.

"Don't 'Emily' me. You and your fucking department probably couldn't find your own assholes without someone bending over and looking for you! And even then you'd need a flashlight!"

"Emily, that's enough!" Rossi could tell that this whole experience was far more than she could handle, but for crying out loud! The guy could pop a cap in her… and him for that matter.

"No Mr. Rossi, it's okay." Lt. Green turned and now devoted his full attention on Emily. "Listen to me. We dropped the ball on your case. And I take full responsibility for that. But we've had no leads. You never saw his face, and up until Mr. Rossi called me, there has been no contact. I wanted to badly to catch this guy for you Emily, really I did. But then I just wanted you to have some sort of a normal life. I honestly hoped we'd never meet again because then I would be able to believe that you were happy."

Emily hung her head. She wasn't shaking anymore, but the tears had started and it didn't seem like they would be letting up. "I did see his face. But to me, it was a monsters face, and it scared me so much. The way he sounded; the way he moved; the way he didn't make any noise at all; the way he smelt. Everything about him." Although the tears hadn't stopped, her voice was clear and determined. Her eyes were closed, trying desperately to remember everything about the demon that haunted her dreams.

The rest of the night was agony for Aaron. He hadn't gone back to his trailer and he knew that the others would have finally gotten Garcia to crack. All he wanted to do was to wait for Emily. He wanted to help her, be there for her, protect her and love her.

Aaron had been sitting on a picnic table for what seemed like nine years when he saw the headlights. Rossi got out, followed by Emily. Aaron didn't know if he should run over to her or to let her come to him. He decided that she needed to know that he was there for her.

He made his way to the car, making sure to announce he presence so as not to frighten Emily more than she appeared to be when she and Rossi tore out of the parking lot. "Umm, Emily?" It came out sounding like a question, which wasn't what he had intended.

"Oh, Aaron." Emily ran into his arms and nearly knocked him to the ground. If it was up to her, she wasn't letting go. Aaron was the safest thing she had in her life, and she hadn't felt this way since she was five.

"I'll go tell the others we're packing up and heading out in tomorrow." Rossi made his way through the grounds to find the rest of his crew.

Once Rossi was gone, Aaron gently kissed the top of Emily's head. She looked up at him, the moonlight lighting up her face so he could tell that she was crying. He held her close to his chest and whispered "I love you" in her ear. He could feel the sobs start to overcome her body and promised himself to let her tell him when she was ready. For tonight, all he was planning on doing was holding her and making sure she knew that he wasn't going anywhere.

_**A/N: oh gosh, that felt good! That was a lot longer than I had actually originally written it, but I didn't like that chapter and how I ended it the first time. This one is better. Trust me!**_

_**Well, unfortunately I don't have any little tidbits of information to go along with this chapter. The only thing I can tell you is that this story is based on a dream I had after watching American Justice and American Idol. I may have already mentioned that in one of my previous chapters, I can't remember that long ago anymore. **_

_**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I do hope to get more done on it in the next week or so, but I still have one more exam to write, so it may be a little while yet before I'm free and able to dedicate more brain cells to much more important things. **_

_**But as always, READ, REVIEW AND RECYCLE! Go GREEN!**_


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